This invention relates to antibacterial compounds.
Microorganisms, such as fungi, produce diverse secondary metabolites that are capable of modulating many different biological activities. For example, it is known that secondary metabolites isolated from the fermentation broth of Thielavia terricola inhibit phospholipase A.sub.2 and prostaglandin biosynthesis, and thus may be useful in the treatment of inflammation. The largest group of bioactive secondary metabolites are antibiotics that inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and viruses by acting on essential processes such as cell wall synthesis, DNA replication, and protein synthesis.
The search for new and useful metabolites has been fueled by the need for more potent (and less toxic) antibiotics, the evolution of microorganisms that are resistant to existing antibiotics, and the emergence of new viral diseases. Corresponding factors from the agricultural sector have also contributed to the urgent search for new bioactive secondary metabolites (Franco et al., 1991, Crit. Rev. in Biotech. 11(3):193-276). Investigators who search for these compounds are likely to be rewarded: only about 5% of the estimated 1.5 million species of fungi have been described (Hawksworth, 1991, Mycol. Res. 95:441-452) and less than 10% of these have been tested for the production of useful secondary metabolites (Porter, 1993, Pestic. Sci. 39:161-168).